1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for replacing a photoreceptive unit and a transfer unit in a printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical printer, such as a printer or a copier, includes a photoreceptive unit developing an image and a transfer unit transferring the developed image to a sheet of paper. As the photoreceptive unit and the transfer unit are used for a long period of time, a degree of accuracy of an image deteriorates. Thus, in order to maintain a clean image, the photoreceptive unit and the transfer unit need to be replaced after being used for a longer period.
FIGS. 1 through 5 are views showing an operation of a conventional system for replacement of the photoreceptive unit and the transfer unit.
Referring to FIGS. 1 through 5, first and second guide rails 41 and 42 are provided in a printer, and a photoreceptive unit 10 and a transfer unit 20 are slidably supported by the first and second guide rails 41 and 42, respectively. To replace the photoreceptive unit 10 and the transfer unit 20, a door (not shown) provided at a front side of the printer is opened, and a locking lever 30 barring the photoreceptive unit 10 is rotated toward the transfer unit 20. Here, the locking lever 30 slightly lifts the transfer unit 20 to be separated from the photoreceptive unit 10. As shown in FIG. 3, the photoreceptive unit 10 is drawn out from the printer by holding a first handle 11 of the photoreceptive unit 10 and pulling the same along the first guide rail 41. Next, the locking lever 30 is disposed to be back to its original position as shown in FIG. 4. Then, a second handle 21 of the transfer unit 20 is pulled to draw the transfer unit 20 along the second guide rail 42. Here, when the transfer unit 20 is drawn to a certain degree, the transfer unit 20 is taken, not to be fallen down, by holding a third handle 22 installed at an upper surface of the transfer unit 20. The installation of new units is carried out in a reverse order to the above-described process.
In the above replacement system, however, the locking lever 30 is inconveniently lifted up and down whenever the photoreceptive unit 10 and the transfer unit 20 are pulled and installed. Also, since the respective units 10 and 20 are pulled by holding the first and second handles 11 and 21 installed at a front side thereof to be drawn, the photoreceptive and transfer units 10 and 20 may fall down at a moment of escaping from the first and second guide rails 41 and 42 and easily damaged if the photoreceptive and transfer units 10 and 20 are carelessly handled, for example, when the photoreceptive and transfer units 10 and 20 are strongly pulled out.